Raven Knights
Formerly known as the High and Chivalric Order of Deserved Rest, the Raven Knights get their more common name from the device that they commonly wear on their shields and surcoats. While the Mourners' Guild works primarily in the cities, protecting the dead and preventing the misuse of their remains, the Raven Knights are a militant arm of the cult of Mórr and travel widely in the Old World to do battle with necromancers and their foul creations. Like the Mourner's Guild, the Raven Knights require a character to have completed the career of Initiate of Mórr before admission to the order. From that point on, the character has a number of career paths to choose from. The order's clerics, templars, witch-hunters, and exorcists are famous in song and story, but they are by no means the only kinds of Raven Knight. A substantial academic and logistical organisation exists to support their efforts and to develop new ways of detecting and counteracting the cult's enemies. In the larger cities, the Raven Knights will be given some space in the guildhouse of the local Mourners' Guild or Temple of Mórr and will share resources such as scribes and chapels. Elsewhere, they may make their base in fortified temples owned by the cult of Mórr. On rare occasions, they have been granted fortress-monasteries with lands to support them in bequests from noble members or sympathetic landowners. A newly-initiated brother or sister of the Order has a number of career options. The Order normally takes the postulant's background and existing skills into account before assigning them to a particular function within the organisation and is generally sympathetic to a new member's ambitions, believing that a character with strong motivation is likely to be able to overcome their initial lack of suitability for a particular role within the Order. Provided that the normal rules for career progression are followed, a character entering the order may receive training in the following roles: Cleric While the Raven Priests tend to be more militant and skilled at arms and magic than their brethren of the Mourners' Guild, they undergo the same spiritual training and are accorded the same degree of respect within the cult. In fact, it is not unknown for veteran Raven Priests to "retire" into the Guild when age or wounds put an end to their military careers and a Mourner Priest who shows particular ability in dealing with an outbreak of Undead may be invited to transfer to the Order. Exorcist While the cult of Mórr, and the Raven Knights in particular, is the best-known organisation of Exorcists in the Old World, it is by no means the only one. Within the order, the lines between Clerics, Exorcists, Templars, and Witch-Hunters tend to become somewhat blurred. Every member serves the Order with whatever abilities he or she can offer. Bounty Hunter, Mercenary, Soldier, Squire, Tomb Robber The junior grades of knighthood within the order embrace a number of warrior careers, depending on the background and inclination of the individual and on the training that is available in a particular place and time. These careers are broadly representative of the skills and advances that may be obtained by junior members of the Raven Knights' military wing. Freelance, Mercenary Sergeant, Mercenary Captain These careers reflect the skills and advances that can be gained in the intermediate levels of knighthood within the order, even though the descriptions of these careers may be somewhat far from a character's actual experience as a Raven Knight. Templar and Witch-Hunter Along with the higher-level clerics, these two careers reflect the higher degrees of Raven knighthood. These are the Order's elite and the type of character that most lay-people think of when speaking of the Raven Knights. Alchemist's Apprentice, Alchemist, Herbalist, Pharmacist Although the Raven Knights are best-known as a martial order, they count several groups of noncombatants amongst their membership. Alchemists, herbalists, and pharmacists attached to the order have made several advances in the application of silver, graveroot, and other substances in the destruction of undead creatures. Scribe, Student, Scholar Supporting and complementing the efforts of the order's scientists are groups of scholars, who devote themselves to researching the nature and weaknesses of the undead in all manner of obscure texts and forbidden tomes, as well as chronicling the order's history and the doings of the greatest of the undead, such as the Carstein vampires and the liche-king Nagash. Skills available to a Scholar of the Raven Knights include any Arcane Language, History, Identify Undead, Scroll Lore, and Undead Lore. Category:Rules Category:Religion